


A Little Problem

by katbear



Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-04-14
Updated: 2001-04-14
Packaged: 2017-10-21 15:11:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katbear/pseuds/katbear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Obi-Wan and the aftermath of an extracurricular outing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Archive: MA, AO3  
> Category: angst  
> Rating: R  
> Pairing: Obi-Wan  
> Feedback: Appreciated.
> 
> Thanks: To the beta readers who helped with various comments  
> and encouragement (Thalia, Kim). All mistakes are definitely  
> my own since I can't resist tweaking. This story came from a  
> bunny inspired by a discussion on MA.
> 
> Warnings: language, references to sexual activity
> 
> Spoilers: None, pre-TPM.
> 
> Disclaimer: The boys belong to George Lucas, I'm just playing with them and derive no profit from this activity.
> 
> ~ ~ Character internal thoughts

Obi-Wan stretched and yawned, then burrowed under the warm  
blankets to enjoy the last few minutes before the morning alarm  
went off. His thoughts floated aimlessly for a few moments,  
finally settling down to a pleasant confirmation that life was  
good as one hand casually snaked down to pump his morning  
erection.

~ uummm, oh, yes ~ he reflected dreamily. He smiled smugly as  
he slowly stroked, ~ oh yes, now that is nice, nice and thick,  
oh yeah, Kenobi, you are definitely hung, my boy ~ Eyes still  
closed, the smile widened as he thought about the long list of  
senior Padawans and junior Knights, male, female and  
miscellaneous, who were anxious to confirm just how nicely hung  
and talented was the sexy Padawan of the infamous Master Jinn.  
Even before his Master had taken off his curfew for his  
eighteenth birthday last year, Obi-Wan had seldom wanted for  
companionship either at home or on missions.

The buzzing of the chrono harshly interrupted his pleasant  
musings. Obi-Wan slapped at the offending instrument with his  
left hand and speeded his right hand rhythm, rapidly bringing  
himself off. He enjoyed the relaxed aftermath until a banging  
on his door and a vaguely disgusted mental thump through the  
training bond warned him that time was growing short.

"I'm up, I'm up," he yelled as he rolled out of bed. The  
apprentice stripped off his soiled sleeping shorts, dropping  
them in his laundry bag as he wrapped a clean towel around his  
middle and headed for the fresher. Relieving himself, he  
noticed absently that there was a reddish patch near the end of  
his penis but his only thought was that perhaps he had nicked  
it with a fingernail.

The next few days passed normally, the usual round of classes,  
sparring and studying. Obi-Wan finally realized that the small  
patch of red skin on his penis was not clearing up but didn't  
have a chance to wonder about it as that night he and his  
Master headed out on a treaty-signing mission to Bulartha.  
After an overnight trip, the two Jedi arrived in plenty of time  
to start the week of meetings, rituals and ceremonies.  
Although it was a relatively routine mission, the days were  
more full than usual and, after doing his classwork, there was  
little time left at night for socializing outside the required  
events.

The fourth day into the mission, Obi-Wan was showering after  
morning katas when he saw another red splotch near the base of  
his penis. This clearly wasn't normal and now he was  
definitely starting to get concerned. As the day went on, he  
began to notice a vague itching around his testicles so he  
found a small hand mirror when he returned to their quarters  
and carefully examined himself in the fresher. The red blotch  
at the base of his penis had spread to his testicles. The  
apprentice retreated to his room and began to ponder. It had  
been quite some time since he had been to a planet with any  
exotic diseases; in any event, he was certain that all of his  
inoculations were up to date. His annual physical was only  
three months ago and everything had checked out fine. He had  
an active sex life, well, to be honest, a very active sex life,  
he thought complacently, a conceited grin on his lips, but he  
had always taken the proper precautions and he knew *those*  
inoculations were definitely up to date. The only thing out of  
the ordinary had been that little side trip he had taken while  
they were on Jambvel.

~ Jambvel, hmmm ~ he thought uneasily. ~ That was almost two  
months ago, but I wonder . . . ~

Obi-Wan threw himself down on the soft bed, closed his eyes,  
and tried to reconstruct the events of that particular mission.  
It was a relatively routine mission, similar to dozens of  
others they had undertaken, just another treaty to negotiate  
between warring parties. Qui-Gon went to the southern  
continent to deal with one major group and had left his  
apprentice in the capital city to conduct the meetings with the  
other faction. It was important but exceptionally tedious  
work; after almost a month of nose to the grindstone celibacy  
Obi-Wan decided his right hand was entitled to a break.  
Unfortunately, despite several appreciative glances he had  
received, the strong religious taboos on Jambvel made the sexy  
young Jedi clearly off limits to most of the people with whom  
he was working. The city had a very large `entertainment' area  
however, rather well known throughout the sector, so when the  
meetings finally broke for a weekend, the young man took full  
advantage of the free time. Much of the area did have a pretty  
raunchy reputation, so he had invested time and extra credits  
to make sure the establishment he finally chose was certified  
as clean and he had even brought a pocketful of his own  
prophylactics. Obi-Wan grinned as he thought about the first  
several hours; a definitely memorable time spent with a  
remarkably talented pair of twin sisters. He recalled drinking  
a pleasant local ale the first part of the evening but moving  
on to something blue, bubbly and evidently much more powerful  
than he had realized. After that things started to get a  
little hazy and the next thing he remembered was waking up in a  
large bed with a sore dick and his head between the legs of a  
strange woman. There were also two other men in the bed, one  
of whom was enthusiastically fucking the apprentice's already  
sore ass. His head was pounding and he didn't have enough  
energy to do anything other than lie there and wait until the  
stranger finally came and pulled out. Eventually he managed to  
drag himself over to the bathroom and into the shower. It was  
in the shower that he found that one of the reasons his dick  
was so sore was that there were several abrasions and a couple  
of what appeared to be small bite marks, one of which was still  
bleeding a little. He made it back to his quarters eventually  
and spent the rest of the day recovering and applying a little  
judicious Force healing. By the next morning everything seemed  
fine and he was quite ready to return to the negotiations. The  
Padawan hadn't bothered to tell his Master about his excursion;  
although it wasn't explicitly forbidden, he knew Qui-Gon  
frowned upon `unnecessary excesses', as he called it. Obi-Wan  
had had a number of discussions about how his definition of  
`unnecessary' and `excess' differed from that of his Master's,  
and he had no particular desire for another chat on the subject  
and its usual aftermath. His thoughts wandered for a moment  
and he sighed. ~ I wish Qui-Gon wasn't such a stuffy old son-  
of-a-bantha sometimes. I'll bet he just doesn't remember what  
it was like to be young and to want to have a little fun. ~

A renewed bout of itching jerked his attention back to the  
problem of the moment. Hands behind his head to keep from  
scratching himself, Obi-Wan worried his lower lip for a while  
as he tried to recapture the scene that morning. ~ Sith take  
it, now I can't remember for certain who those other people  
really were. I'm pretty sure that at the time I believed they  
were just part of the staff but maybe they really were only  
visitors. One of them did look kind of like a deep spacer with  
that buzz cut and pallor, ~ he thought. ~ You idiot, if you  
actually caught something after all the classes and those  
lectures from Qui-Gon you're never going to hear the end of it.  
~ He shuddered a little. ~ And you'll never live it down if  
you get sent back through any of the sex ed classes again with  
the junior Padawans. Kenobi, my boy, I think it's time for  
some research. ~ He sniggered a little. ~ Very discreet  
research. ~

The next two days seemed to take forever. There were endless  
speeches and ceremonies that required long stretches of  
standing or sitting perfectly still and the itching around his  
testicles was getting more pronounced as they slowly began  
turning a deeper shade of red. No amount of meditating,  
attempted healing or local creams or medicines he was able to  
procure seemed to help at all and he was starting to get  
disapproving looks from his Master when he kept shifting around  
instead of standing or sitting still. He had to keep his end  
of the training bond carefully shielded and it was only by  
strict concentration that he made it through the last  
afternoon. He was very glad that they were able to catch a  
transport back to Coruscant that night instead of waiting until  
the next day.

The first day back home was miserable. Since they were able to  
sleep during the trip back, Qui-Gon made his apprentice attend  
all of his normal classes. The increasingly intense itching  
made it difficult to sit still in class and Obi-Wan found that  
the sweat generated during their afternoon sparring session  
only made things worse. So far he had not found anything in  
the data banks about what might be causing his distress, so  
after a quick shower he scoured the Temple until he found  
Knight Kresken. Knight Kresken was remarkably well-traveled  
for such a relatively junior Knight and had an even more  
remarkable reputation for the extent of his sexual adventures.  
Obi-Wan found the Knight just finishing an Initiate class and  
pulled him back into the now empty classroom.

"Kres, you've got to help me," Obi-Wan said without preamble.

"Hey, slow down. What's up, Kenobi?" said the handsome blonde  
Knight with a smile.

"I've got a little problem, and if I go to the Healers my  
Master will find out. If that happens, he's going to kill me  
because I wasn't really supposed to be in the place where I  
think I acquired the problem. Not to mention what the  
disciplinary council might do to what's left of me after my  
Master gets done. So I thought you might know where I can get  
some help."

"A little problem, eh? I take it you mean as in a little  
problem downstairs?" asked the Knight, waggling a bushy eyebrow  
as the grin widened considerably.

Obi-Wan had the grace to blush. "Well, yeah. It just started  
out as a small red patch; now my dick is alright but my balls  
are red and itch. I've got to find something to fix this soon;  
I can hardly sit still in class and my Master was looking at me  
oddly in our sparring session this afternoon. Will you help  
me?"

"Hmmm, that doesn't sound very familiar," said the Knight  
thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "We're going to have to get  
you downtown to see this being I know. Do you have permission  
to leave the Temple whenever you want?"

"Not yet, I'm only nineteen," admitted the apprentice.

"That's a complication; we'd have to sneak you out," said the  
Knight hesitantly. "I'm not sure I want to get in that kind of  
trouble if we get caught."

"I can get you a date with Knight Weshawnla," murmured Obi-Wan  
enticingly.

"You? How do you rate with a hot Voranian like her?" demanded  
the Knight.

"She owes me a favor," replied Obi-Wan, watching the gleam in  
Kresken's eyes. He saw the hesitation warring with lust and  
continued softly, "A big favor."

Lust won out as the Knight sighed heavily. "You'd better come  
through, Kenobi, or I'll bust you to the Healers myself. Can  
you get away after evening meal?"

Obi-Wan nodded eagerly and they settled the details of their  
escape before going their separate ways.

*********** ************

Obi-Wan felt a slight twinge of guilt as the two Jedi headed  
toward one of the seamier sections of Coruscant. He had told  
Qui-Gon that he would be spending the evening doing research,  
so he had not actually lied, but he had certainly left a strong  
impression that the research would be conducted in the Temple  
Library. Instead he was now in civilian clothes, walking  
gingerly down dismal side streets on a hunt for someone who  
could fix his balls and keep quiet about it.

Half an hour later Kresken steered him into the doorway of a  
nondescript shop in a decrepit block of similar, nondescript  
facades. The Knight knocked on the door, murmured a few words  
through an opened doorway, then led him into a dank hallway and  
past a series of closed doors. At the fifth door they paused  
and knocked again and were quickly admitted to a surprisingly  
clean and well-lit office with racks of medical equipment and  
drugs and a well-worn examining table in the center.

"Evening, Nevlod," said the Knight affably as he shook hands  
with a short, wizened Zabrakian. "My friend here has a little  
problem and we were wondering if you could help him out."

The old man looked Obi-Wan up and down, then grunted. "Pants  
down, up on the table."

Blushing a little, the young man hurried to comply, sitting on  
the edge of the table. The Zabrakian made a very thorough and  
surprisingly gentle examination of Obi-Wan's entire genital  
area. By now both testicles had turned from dark red to almost  
purple and were starting to swell a little. The itching was  
constant and intense. On the other hand, the original red  
patch was gone and his penis looked quite normal.

The Zabrakian leaned back and looked up at Obi-Wan. He started  
in on a litany of questions about where the apprentice had been  
for the past six months and then a long list of symptoms. Obi-  
Wan dutifully recited all the places his missions had taken him  
and was able to answer in the negative to most of the other  
symptoms the old man rattled off, finishing by describing how  
and when the current problem had developed. After sitting and  
apparently thinking for a several minutes, the old man got up,  
took a blood sample and then a swab from inside the  
apprentice's mouth. Rummaging inside a cabinet, he came back  
with two sample cups and requested a urine sample and a semen  
sample.

Obi-Wan obligingly pissed in the first cup but found it  
surprisingly difficult to get any sort of erection up. Having  
a grinning Kresken looking at him didn't help matters but once  
he finally got stiff he also found that the swelling in his  
balls was quite painful. After he managed to produce a  
sufficient sample his balls were now sore as well as itchy.

The old man secured the various samples, then gestured to the  
apprentice to pull his pants up.

Burning with impatience, Obi-Wan finally blurted out, "Well,  
what's wrong and can you fix it?"

"Always in such a hurry, these young people," murmured the  
Zabrakian, shaking his head. He sat down before answering. "I  
must finish the tests before we know for certain, but I suspect  
it is something you contracted on Jambvel. They get a great  
deal of traffic from the Pelornian region, which has quite a  
number of very unusual venereal diseases, and it seems there is  
a possibility you had an encounter with a spacer from there.  
If it is what I suspect, it is curable but the drugs to cure it  
are relatively expensive. If it is not treated, it will  
eventually go away on its own but you will be subject to  
periodic recurrences and potential long term impotence." He  
paused to watch the look of dismay on Obi-Wan's face before he  
continued. "Your healers at the Jedi Temple have those drugs  
also, Padawan." He paused again to watch the flush that  
flooded the young man's face as he stared down at the floor.  
"Very well, then. I will finish the tests to confirm the  
diagnosis. Come back in a week."

"A week!" exclaimed Obi-Wan in horror. "I can't stand this for  
another week."

"It shouldn't get too much worse in just a week. Use this  
ointment. It will help with the itch and the swelling, as will  
a cold bath or applying ice. Also, take one of these pills  
twice a day, drink plenty of fluids, and no masturbating or  
sex," replied the old man calmly. "Oh, and if this is what I  
think it is, it is communicable via body fluids, so I would  
strongly recommend that you stay totally celibate, not even  
kissing."

Obi-Wan paid for the ointment and pills, then asked hesitantly,  
"Uh, how expensive are these drugs you will need?"

The old man named a sum that would wipe out the apprentice's  
savings. Obi-Wan turned pale and swallowed hard, started to  
speak but was interrupted brusquely. "That is already the  
lowest price I can offer. There is a certain risk to obtaining  
these drugs privately, you know. In any event, I can't  
honestly say I have much sympathy for you. Be back in a week  
or not, as you will."

***************** ******************

 

Three nights later, Obi-Wan was lying on his bed, contemplating  
his miserable existence as he gingerly applied an ice pack to  
his tender testicles. As promised, the ointment and pills had  
helped somewhat, but by now both testicles had turned a deep  
purplish, almost blue shade, and were swollen and tender.  
Morning classes hadn't been too bad as long as he didn't move  
much but the afternoon kata and sparring sessions were  
increasingly painful, even with a tight supporter of the  
softest material he could find. He was certain that Qui-Gon  
suspected something was wrong, particularly when his apprentice  
had avoided the common showers, but each night Obi-Wan had  
quickly eaten in their quarters and immediately sequestered  
himself in his room after evening meal, pleading homework to  
avoid questions.

The Padawan sighed gustily as the ice finally created a dull  
numbness in his nether regions. He indulged in a bout of self-  
pity as he glumly surveyed his choices.

~ Well, you've really got yourself in it this time, haven't  
you, idiot, ~ he berated himself. ~ Assuming you can survive  
another four days without dying during the sparring sessions or  
Qui-Gon finally asking you point-blank what's wrong, if you go  
back to the Zabrakian it's going to take every credit you can  
scrape up and there's no real guarantee everything will really  
be cured. If you go to the Healers now, this thing is so far  
along they'll know you've been deliberately holding out and not  
only will they tell Qui-Gon but you'll almost certainly end up  
in front of the disciplinary council as well. ~ He paused to  
indulge in a string of very heartfelt curses as he shifted the  
ice pack. ~ If only you had gone to the Healers right away  
like you were supposed to, you probably could have given them  
the innocent mistake excuse, after all, everybody's entitled to  
a few mistakes, and you might have gotten off with just a  
lecture or two. ~ Obi-Wan knew why the rules were in place;  
you were supposed to go the Healers immediately if you even  
thought you might have a venereal disease so they could cure it  
before there were any lasting effects and so you couldn't  
spread it to anyone else. Even under normal circumstances,  
though, the apprentice hated going to the Healers for anything,  
and to have to go to them for something like this did not sit  
well at all with his image of self-sufficiency and was  
particularly galling to his relatively new sense of adulthood.  
~ It's not your fault you had some bad luck, ~ he told himself  
resentfully. ~ I guess you'll just have to hold out long  
enough to go back downtown. ~

The apprentice's ruminations were interrupted by a knock on the  
door. "Obi-Wan," called his Master, "you have a visitor."

Cursing inwardly and more than half-inclined to tell whoever it  
was to just go away, Obi-Wan heaved himself up off the bed and  
pulled his pants up. Walking carefully to the door, he opened  
it to find that Knight Kresken was waiting outside. The Knight  
smiled pleasantly at Qui-Gon and thanked him before sauntering  
into the Padawan's room.

Once the door was safely shut, Obi-Wan turned angrily to ask  
Kresken what he thought he was doing coming to his room like  
this, but instead found himself face to face with an angrier  
Knight.

"Kenobi, you little fool, where you have been all day? Haven't  
you read your mail or been to the dining hall or talked to  
anyone?" he hissed.

Bewildered, Obi-Wan shook his head. "Except for classes and  
sparring, I haven't left my quarters and I haven't felt like  
reading mail. What's going on?"

"I've been looking for you and sent you mail three times today.  
I've got friends in the Healer's wing and they told me that in  
the last week they've had two Padawans and a Knight come in  
with some new kind of genital infection. Two of them were  
males and the symptoms sounded an awful lot like that stuff  
you've got, Kenobi."

Obi-Wan backed up against the wall and stared speechlessly at  
the Knight as the implications of his statement sank in. ~ Oh  
no, it couldn't be, it just couldn't, could it? ~ he thought in  
horrified denial. Finally he regained his voice and whispered,  
"Do you know who they were?"

"He thinks two of them were Knight Cruttok and Padawan  
d'Shiovn. He didn't know who the third person was."

With a low moan, Obi-Wan collapsed in a chair and hung his  
head, feeling sick. "Oh Force, I was with both of them a  
couple of weeks after I got back from Jambvel."

"Listen to me, Kenobi. Do you know what happens when the  
Healers get several cases in like this?"

The apprentice shook his head, still in shock.

"Well, I do because I've seen it happen before. The immediate  
presumption is that someone is carrying the disease, either  
intentionally or unintentionally. The next day or two you're  
going to start seeing requests going out inviting people to go  
to the Healers for a checkup if they have certain symptoms. If  
that doesn't work, they start requiring everyone who was known  
to have sex with the first victims to come in and get checked.  
I've seen them pull people off missions to get checked if they  
think you're in that group. Then, if they still haven't found  
the source, they start making everyone in the Temple come in  
and get checked, usually starting with the people who have a  
reputation for being sexually active. While it's possible you  
might be over it before they get to you, they usually find the  
source eventually if they don't turn themselves in."

"I can't do that, Kresken. You've got to help me," moaned Obi-  
Wan.

"Listen, you idiot. I helped you before because I always  
thought you were smart and responsible and had just had an  
accident getting caught with a new bug. Lots of people have  
accidents and there are always new bugs out there that the  
shots don't cover. It is a big galaxy, after all, and I know a  
lot of people don't really like going to the Healers." The  
Knight paused to look distastefully at the young man slumped in  
the chair. "But if I had known you had been out having sex  
without knowing you were clean, I certainly wouldn't have taken  
you to Nevlod."

"But I thought I was alright, how was I supposed to know  
anything could have happened on Jambvel?" protested Obi-Wan  
weakly. "It was just a little recreation, and the place was  
supposed to be clean."

"Being responsible means that if you aren't *absolutely*  
certain you're clean, you do not go around screwing half the  
temple," the Knight snarled in disgust. "The one person you're  
supposed to be able to trust is a fellow Jedi and the Healers  
won't fuss at you if you do come in for a checkup if you have  
any doubts at all. Do you even remember what you did in that  
place and who you really woke up with?"

"Well . . . " Obi-Wan flushed and looked away. "I don't  
remember all of it, no."

"Do you remember anything at all out of the ordinary?" Kresken  
demanded.

The apprentice hesitated before finally answering quietly,  
"There were some abrasions and a couple of open bite marks on  
my penis when I woke up, but I felt fine, they healed quickly,  
and, well, I guess I just didn't think anything about it at the  
time."

The Knight stepped back and folded his arms, looking at Obi-Wan  
like he was some particularly revolting form of slime. "No,  
you haven't been thinking at all, little Padawan, except with  
your dick, and you must have been asleep during the mandatory  
classes, ignoring broken skin like that when you don't really  
know how it got that way," he finally said slowly. "Listen to  
me very carefully. If you want to play grownup games, you  
better learn to play by grownup rules. I don't want to know  
how many others you screwed after you got back, that's between  
you and your conscience; how you make sure they know to get  
themselves to the Healers is your problem. But you need to  
think seriously about what you are going to do next, because  
I'm not helping you."

"Are you going to turn me in?" asked Obi-Wan fearfully, still  
huddled in his chair.

"For the moment, as long as no one gets seriously ill or  
permanently damaged, no," replied the Knight. "Just one being  
gets hurt because of your stupidity, though, and I'm going  
straight to the Healers. As for you, you've got three choices;  
let the infection run its course and hope there's no permanent  
damage, try to find the Zabrakian yourself and pay for the  
treatment, or you can go to the Healers. I don't particularly  
care what you do."

"But, Kres, please, I can't -"

The Knight grabbed the front of Obi-Wan's tunic, pulled him to  
his feet, then shoved him roughly into the wall and leaned in,  
face to face, "I don't know you, I don't want to see you, and I  
don't want to talk to you. But my friends and I *will* be  
watching you. Do you understand, little Padawan?"

The apprentice nodded shakily and the Knight released him.  
Without a backward glance, Knight Kresken left the room. Obi-  
Wan heard him take leave of Qui-Gon, then a dull silence fell.

For several minutes Obi-Wan simply stood still, numb and  
unseeing. Finally he roused himself enough to wander over and  
ease himself onto his bed. His first reactions see-sawed back  
and forth between self-pity and guilt. For a while he raged  
against the injustice; this was the kind of thing you heard  
about happening to other people, this wasn't supposed to happen  
to him, he was a Jedi Padawan, strong and powerful.  
Eventually, though, his innate honesty kicked his butt hard  
enough to force him to admit that he had in fact ignored at  
least some part of the teachings and that being young, hot and  
desirable didn't excuse stupidity. He was ashamed of himself  
and acutely aware of how disappointed his Master was going to  
be if he found out that his apprentice had betrayed the trust  
and freedom he had been given. Until now sex had just been a  
game, a game he was particularly good at and enjoyed playing;  
most of the precautions were just rules of the game and he had  
never truly bothered to think about the reasons behind those  
rules until now. An especially agonizing hour was spent  
identifying all the beings with whom he had been intimate since  
his return from Jambvel and thinking about what his arrogant  
carelessness might mean to them. He spent most of the night  
restlessly wandering in a maze of unhappy emotions, but the  
morning light brought no illumination to his problems.

************* ************

By careful timing in the fresher and hiding in his room until  
it was time to go to class, Obi-Wan managed to avoid speaking  
to his Master except for a mumbled greeting as he fled out the  
door, ignoring the questions and summons that was called out to  
his disappearing form. He had tightened his shields and  
blocked his end of the training bond to try to prevent Qui-Gon  
from finding out how he felt. The morning passed slowly in a  
fog of misery as the young man was buffeted by his churning  
emotions, denied the comfort of his Master's presence from  
which he had cut himself off. He had also forgotten to take  
his pills, so his inner turmoil was exacerbated by the  
increasing physical pain from his swollen testicles. He was  
beginning to feel like his guilt must be screaming itself to  
the world, so overwhelming were his feelings. From long habit  
he turned unthinkingly in the direction of the dining hall  
after his last morning class, but when he neared the vicinity  
of the large hall he realized his appetite was long gone and he  
couldn't deal with facing his friends. A glimpse of his Master  
arriving from the opposite direction decided him; he  
precipitately turned away and left as quickly as his condition  
permitted. For an hour he wandered restlessly through the main  
gardens of the Temple until it became too painful to walk, then  
he sought refuge in one of the older, seldom-used contemplation  
gardens.

Seeking shelter under an overgrown hedge, Obi-Wan lay down and  
wrapped himself in his cloak, a huddled ball of misery. The  
passing of time became meaningless as his mind kept tracing the  
same rutted paths of guilt and pain. Kresken's scornful words  
rang in his ears as the faces of nine people paraded past his  
inner eye. Nine people, some friends, some casual  
acquaintances who had sought him out, nine beings who had  
trusted him but whom he had potentially infected since that  
cursed trip to Jambvel. Trusted him because he was a fellow  
Jedi, trusted him because he was supposedly responsible. His  
own pain diminished to insignificance when he thought about  
what he might have done to those nine people, especially when  
he considered the horrible possibility that some of them might  
have even worse reactions than his own. ~ Obi-Wan Kenobi, you  
are truly an asshole, ~ he reproached himself savagely. ~ You  
thought you were such a hot stud, really getting around, such a  
big time hero. All you really were was a selfish bastard, out  
for your own greedy pleasure. ~ He wrapped himself tighter in  
his cloak as tears trickled slowly from his closed eyes and his  
thoughts and emotions continued their whirling cycle, totally  
oblivious to the outer world.

Several hours later the young man slowly became conscious of  
his surroundings once more. Emotionally he felt almost numb  
and detached, drained by the depths of his self-flagellation.  
The physical pain from his swollen testicles was a dull,  
throbbing reminder of his problem. As he carefully stretched  
his stiff body, Obi-Wan realized that a large silent form was  
sitting nearby, watching him.

"Master," he softly acknowledged, not meeting the other's eyes.

"Padawan," came the grave response. A pause. "Do you want to  
talk now?"

"Master?" was the hesitant reply, blue-green eyes staring at  
the grass.

"It has been clear for a while now that something is troubling  
you, that you have not been well. I wanted to give you time to  
resolve whatever it is, but I had hoped that you trusted me  
enough to come to me if you had a problem."

There was a long pause as Obi-Wan bowed his head, a flush of  
shame heating his cheeks as he realized how totally self-  
absorbed he had been. His only thoughts about his Master had  
been how to avoid him and potential punishment, an outlook  
totally unworthy of all the things the man had done for him.  
It was evident he had a lot of attitude adjustments he needed  
to make.

A long shuddering breath, then the apprentice spoke. "I'm  
sorry, Master."

"Do you want to talk now?" was the softly repeated invitation.

Obi-Wan propped himself up on one elbow, reddened eyes finally  
daring to glance up at the patiently waiting man. He swallowed  
hard, then spoke huskily, "Master, I've done some very stupid  
things, and I have hurt some people who trusted me. A lot of  
what I did wrong was due to my own arrogance and selfishness, I  
realize that now, but the damage is done." He paused to scrub  
his tear-stained face with his free hand as Qui-Gon continued  
to sit silently.

The silence stretched for a very long moment as the apprentice  
screwed up his courage enough to continue. Obi-Wan carefully  
sat up, then focused his gaze on his Master's large hands.  
"Master, I didn't understand what you tried to teach me about  
moderation and thought only of my own pleasure. When we were  
on Jambvel, I went out to a brothel and did not tell you. I  
thought I took precautions but I got drunk, I don't know who I  
really had sex with, and I disregarded some of the basic  
teachings." Twisting his hands together nervously, he said  
very slowly, "Looking back, I realize now that despite all the  
classes and lectures, I never *really* believed that anything  
bad could happen to me, it was always the kind of thing that  
only happened to other people."

The apprentice paused for a long moment, swallowed past the  
knot in his throat, then forced himself to continue the  
confession in a low voice. "About two months after we got back  
to Coruscant, I started to notice a red patch on my penis, then  
when we were on Bulartha my testicles turned red and started to  
itch. It got worse after we returned home, but I tried to take  
care of it myself instead of going to the Healers and telling  
them what happened. I ended up getting help to find a medic  
outside the Temple." He stopped to draw several deep breaths  
and collect himself again.

"The symptoms must have kept getting worse, I assume," said  
Qui-Gon. The apprentice nodded, still unable to meet his  
Master's eyes. "These last few days in particular, it was  
obvious during our afternoon sessions that you were having  
difficulty focusing."

Obi-Wan wet his lower lip, then continued. "I could handle the  
physical symptoms and mostly hide them but those things weren't  
the worst part, Master. After we got back from Jambvel, I  
continued to have sex with a lot of people until the mission to  
Bulartha. I thought I was still clean because I had ignored  
what happened on Jambvel. But yesterday I found out . . ."  
His breath hitched and he had to stop momentarily before  
continuing almost in a whisper. "Three of the people I had  
been with were sick, and the males had the same symptoms I  
did." Arms drawn in tight and shoulders slumped, Obi-Wan  
briefly looked up at Qui-Gon. "I must have passed it on to  
them and probably to several more people also because I was too  
selfish and stupid to do the right thing. I feel awful,  
Master. I never intended to hurt anyone," he said miserably.

"What is in the past can not be changed, Padawan. What is  
important now is what you intend to do about the current  
situation and how you conduct yourself in the future," replied  
Qui-Gon quietly. "Have you made any decisions yet?"

Obi-Wan sat silently for several minutes, then tried to rise.  
Qui-Gon was immediately at his side helping him to stand. They  
stood looking at each other for a moment, then the apprentice  
turned his head to look toward the main Temple. He sighed,  
then turned back, straightening himself as much as he could and  
clasping his hands in front of him.

"Master, I have committed a trespass and I seek your guidance  
and forgiveness," Obi-Wan bowed as he slowly uttered the  
traditional words, then sank to both knees. "I have not  
followed the health rules, I have not heeded your teachings, I  
kept secret my transgressions from you, and I have brought harm  
to other Jedi through my selfishness and willfulness."

Qui-Gon stood tall and stern as he made the response, "I accept  
your confession, Padawan, and will guide you back to the path  
of Light. My forgiveness you have, but forgiveness of yourself  
you must earn." He paused, his expression becoming softer and  
more troubled as he continued quietly, "These are serious  
transgressions, Padawan, especially the offenses against your  
fellow Jedi. Your punishment we will discuss, but now I must  
know how you propose to repair the harm you have done."

Obi-Wan looked up at his Master, then spoke quietly but firmly.  
"I will go to the Healers and seek treatment so they can  
determine what disease I have contracted. I will tell them  
about everyone with whom I had relations so they can be  
treated." He paused, biting his lower lip in shame before  
continuing, but he saw only concern reflected in the dark blue  
eyes. "I will go to each person I put at risk, explain to them  
what I did so they can seek treatment if they have not already  
done so, and I will apologize to each one and ask their  
forgiveness." As his shoulders slumped, the apprentice bowed  
his head again, his resolve deserting him. "I also accept  
whatever punishment you feel is appropriate, Master," he  
finished miserably.

Reaching down, Qui-Gon carefully helped the young man to his  
feet. "I will determine the appropriate punishment while you  
are with the healers, Padawan. I suspect, however, that  
whatever punishment I set will not be nearly as severe as the  
reactions you will get from your friends," he said kindly, one  
hand still on the apprentice's shoulder.

Obi-Wan grimaced before replying, "Yes, Master. I expect it  
won't take very long until the whole Temple knows what I did."  
He gave a snort and a half-hearted grin. "I imagine I'll be  
celibate for a long time even if you don't order it."

"Well, it might give you an opportunity to develop other  
interests," said Qui-Gon with a small answering smile. "Obi-  
Wan, I hope you realize that when we go to the Healers, they  
will have to report you to the disciplinary committee for  
hiding your infection. When we appear before the committee  
they will most likely assign additional punishment such as  
requiring you to teach sex education classes for the junior  
Padawans."

"Yes, Master. It was one of the things I was trying to avoid  
by hiding . . ." The apprentice's voice trailed off as he  
realized the significance of his Master's choice of pronouns.  
He glanced at the large hand on his shoulder, then up into the  
calm blue eyes which held the serenity he still found so  
difficult to attain. "Master, I created the problem, you  
shouldn't have to be involved in the consequences."

"Obi-Wan, just because you made some mistakes, that doesn't  
mean that I care for you any less or that I am going to abandon  
you to face things alone," said Qui-Gon quietly. "Hopefully  
the mistakes will lead to learning and perhaps we will both do  
some things a little differently in the future." The Master  
gathered the young man into his arms, holding him close and  
gently resting his chin on the apprentice's head. "Obi-Wan,  
it's not just my duty as your Master, I *want* to help you. I  
will always be here for you if you need me."

"I'm sorry I let you down, Master, and I'm sorry I didn't go to  
you when I had a problem," murmured Obi-Wan in a choked voice  
as tears threatened again. He hugged Qui-Gon tightly and let  
the warm embrace soothe him as he buried his face against the  
soft, familiar cloak. He could feel the love and compassion  
flowing over him, lending him strength for his coming ordeal.  
"Thank you," he whispered.

With a final squeeze, Obi-Wan broke the embrace and stepped  
back. The two men looked at each other, then of one accord  
turned and made their way slowly toward the Healers' wing,  
Master and Padawan together.

finis


End file.
